R.I.P. MSN Direct: 2004-2012

MSN Direct, the real-time data-transmission service from Microsoft, will be discontinued on Jan. 1, 2012, the company announced Tuesday. Using FM radio signals, MSN Direct sends traffic information, weather updates, gas prices, movie times and more to devices such as Garmin GPS gadgets.

Though it will not change MSN Direct services, Microsoft will continue to support it until the kill date, the company said in an FAQ. But why kill MSN Direct?

The delivery of location-based services in the U.S. and Canada has evolved since Microsoft began offering MSN Direct in early 2004. Leveraging unused FM radio spectrum to broadcast data represented a step forward in 2004, however, many choices today including WiFi, Cellular, FM RDS and other digital networks are now readily available and are continuing to grow in popularity. Despite good initial MSN Direct adoption, these alternatives have significantly reduced demand for MSN Direct service. As such, Microsoft has made the decision to focus future U.S. and Canada investments on these existing network connections and discontinue the MSN Direct services business. Microsoft will continue to explore new ways to leverage the efficiencies of FM digital broadcast in other applications and markets going forward.

That’s what the FAQ states. So, essentially, MSN Direct is another casualty of Apple’s iPhone and similar smartphones.